Stop Illegal Mining In Braja!!

May 7, 2006

Please accept my most humble obeisances. All glories to Srila Prabhupada.

I believe that many of you are already aware of the critical threat to the environment of Braj Dham by illegal mining close to Barsana. In a nutshell, here is the problem:

In the last 10 years, illegal mining of the hilly terrain in the Braj region has grown nearly 25 times. The focus of this activity is in the sacred groves of Kamavan where Sri Krishna had many pastimes with his cowherd boyfriends. In addition to the brutal destruction of these sacred hills, the extensive use of dynamite has damaged some prominent sites of Krishna's pastimes, like Phisalini Shila a natural rock formation over which Krishna used to slide with his friends.

Inspired by the dedicated resistance that has grown up amongst the local Brijbasi community, I joined with other devotees to fund a Public Interest Litigation suit in the Supreme Court of India. The suit was successful and the Supreme Court ordered a complete ban last January. I also joined in forming the Braj Foundation to stimulate regeneration of the environment of Braj.

However, despite the ruling of the Supreme Court, backed up by several other Central government rulings and a ruling from the Rajasthan High Court, the Rajasthan government has been dragging its feet on stopping this illegal activity under the apparent sway of the mining "mafia."

This collusion of unscrupulous businessmen has gone so far as to threaten the lives of senior activists and has succeeded in orchestrating the murder of one of the dedicated volunteers.

To try to bring more pressure on the government, the local Brijbasis have mounted a demonstration, conducting continuous Harinam at the Jantar Mandir in Delhi since April 22nd and will submit their petition to the Prime Minister on May 11.

I'm writing to ask you to support this effort with your own petition, signed by members of your congregations, and faxed to the Prime Minister care of the Indian Embassy of your country. A draft of this petition is below for your use.

If at all possible, I ask that you announce this at your upcoming Sunday program so that as many as possible of your congregation can join in this petition.

The completed petitions should be faxed to your local embassy and the original copy sent by mail.. You can find the fax number and postal addresses of the Indian embassies at this website:: www (dot) sarkaritel (dot) com / indianmissionspost.

Please also email a copy to the Braj Rakshak Dal office which is organizing the protest - brajrakshakdal @ gmail . com

I also ask you to join the online version of this petition at www (dot) PetitionOnline (dod) com /braj/petition (dot) html . Please announce this to your congregation as well so they can join online and forward it to their friends and associates, helping create a wider awareness about this important issue.

The success of this effort will strengthen the foundations for increased action to stem the rapid environmental degradation of the entire Braj region. Your support today could mean the difference for our children tomorrow - a renewed Braj filled with sacred groves, forested hills and beautiful kunds, instead of a devastated and barren land.

I thank you for your support.

Your servant,

Ambarisa das

Trustee

Braj Foundation

www (dot) brajfoundation (dot) org

Petition

To:

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Honorable Prime Minister of India

New Delhi

Through Indian Embassy

Sir,

We the undersigned, as members of the global community who revere and appreciate Braj culture and heritage, are outraged over the brutal destruction of the heritage hills of Braj which lie in the Deeg & Kaman tehsils of Bharatpur district of Rajasthan.

These hills lie in close vicinity to the Keoladeo National Park at Bharatpur, Sariska Tiger Reserve at Alwar and the Taj Mahal at Agra and play a considerable role in maintaining the ecological balance of the region.

These hills have numerous footmarks, caves, rocks and other heritage sites all associated with the innumerable pastimes of Lord Krishna. Millions of pilgrims and tourists from all over the world come to visit these sites.

We have come to know that this destructive mining is illegal, violating the guidelines of the Honorable Supreme Court of India and ignoring the stern directions of the Central Pollution Control Board to stop all sorts of mining activities in the region with immediate effect.

As per the satellite studies conducted by Braj Rakshak Dal www (dot) brajrakshakdal (dot) org ) – the activist group fighting for the protection and overall resurrection of Braj, the quantum of mining operations has increased to the tune of 28 times in the last few years. At this rate, the hills of Braj would be wiped out in a mere span of 5-10 years.

It is unfortunate that the Government of Rajasthan is allowing this plunder of the word's heritage despite the fact that these hills are central to the ecology of Braj and have prevented the desertification of the region.

We have learnt that the local people of the region are sitting on an agitation to draw the attention of the Government of India on this issue, at the Jantar Mantar of New Delhi since April 22nd.

We express our solidarity with them and earnestly request you to take appropriate measures to stop all kinds of mining activities in the entire Braj region.

We also request you to take an initiative towards conserving the pristine glory and grandeur of Braj which lies in close vicinity of Taj Mahal, by facilitating the restoration of its hundreds of Kunds, revival of its dozens of transcendental groves and the regeneration of the barren hill slopes.

sorry about the websites....it wont let me post them...again! 8-)

May 8, 2006

We should create a giant international activist force to meet there and protest!

I have some experience in creating/leading local protests, if we could generate some funds to assist those with less money and involve environment and animal rights groups this could be big!

Questions: 1) Can you show a way that this is hurting the environment in the long term?

2) Can you show a way that this is harming animals?

3) Can you find a way to provide financial aid to protestors that may want to come from other countries?

I have LOTS of friends here on campus that would love to go and protest in person! Where there is a will there is a way right?

E-mail me in person if you want to try and get this going full-force, I'm with you 100% and would love to be there in person standing in front of the miners!!!

nicholastrammell@mail2actor.com